Dominican Heritage

The Aquinas Center cherishes its historical connections and ongoing collaborative relationships with the Dominican order of the Catholic Church. This takes a number of forms. In addition to our Dominican Board members, the Center has hosted for a number of years a visiting Dominican scholar to teach at Emory and lecture in the community including Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., former master of the Dominican order.

The Center treasures the key principles of the Dominican tradition including the four pillars:

Prayer/Contemplation includes the Dominican obligation to “contemplate and then pass on the fruits of this contemplation”. Contemplation in this context includes an ability to contemplate the world, including the natural world, through God.

Study is a search for truth, that requires a holiness of heart and mind. In the quest for truth, the whole world is theology because the heavens proclaim the glory of God.

Community, with a democratic bent, is a key aspect of Dominican life.

Mission of the Dominicans focuses on preaching, taking the word of God to others in speech and action in lives of service, compassion and mercy. The Aquinas Center seeks to promote knowledge about Catholicism based on these pillars.